Jersey cousins visit the Floridians

Dan, Julie, Christine and Andy flew down from New Jersey to Florida in late July for a brief vacation trip and to visit with Nanette and Courtney in Palm Beach Gardens.



The travelers had just two full days to enjoy some of the sights and to catch up with the Florida branch of the family, but had a fine time doing so.

The main point of interest, of course, was the new home of the Loggerhead Marinelife Center, where Nanette is executive director.

Read the full story here or here.

"Fluffy" a hit at Harry Potter book party

Andy was in costume as Fluffy, the three-headed dog, at a late night party leading up to the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at a central New Jersey book store July 20, 2007. He won honorable mention in the costume judging and drew the biggest cheer from the crowd. His mom made the costume for Halloween 2004; this photo is from that date. The costume is a bit short on Andy now, so this was probably its final appearance.

Xander's photo galleries and videos

Webmaster Dan says:

Because it's not clear what will happen to our original Birch Street Web pages when Google discontinues its googlepages service, I'm starting to move some content to other places. To begin with, I've taken the photos of Xander that fill two Birch Street Gallery pages and put them into online albums. (The date on this post, July 18 2007, is when the most recent photos were originally added to the web site.)

Click to watch the slideshow, or click twice to go directly to the album and see larger versions.





And here are some early videos that were on Birch Street TV:

Xander Stands!

Sent by Marie and Brian 7/31/2007: "Here's a video we took of Xander learning to stand. He can stand for a few seconds on his own without holding on. Enjoy!"

Xander kicks!

Video from November 2006

A birthday celebration marked by lucky 7s

Lorraine, known to many of us as Mom or Grandma, celebrated her birthday on the 7th day of the 7th month of the 7th year of the millenium. She and Dan/Dad/Grandpa are summering in Noyac, and went out for a celebratory dinner with daughter Kathy and grandchildren Genevieve, Vivien and Patrick. They dined at the Oasis, formerly the Inn at Mill Creek.

Genevieve writes: "The food was delicious and everyone enjoyed watching the sun set while we ate. At dessert, they brought out a candle for Grandma (stuck in her Banana's Foster) and we all sang happy birthday. Grandma made a wish and blew it out!

After dinner we went back to our house and watched fireworks that were being set off in honor of the Fourth of July (and Grandma's birthday!) It was a very fun night and everyone enjoyed themselves."

Anniversary on the Hudson

Dan and Julie celebrated their 18th wedding anniversary July 8, 2007 by taking a dinner cruise on the Hudson and East River and around New York Harbor. The three-hour tour (really!) on Spirit Cruise on a balmy evening made for a very pleasant mini-getaway.

Coincidentally, they met friends from Fanwood who were taking the same cruise with their two daughters to celebrate the older girl's 17th birthday. It's thanks to them that we have these photos taken on board. In the one at right, the (blurred) background is Brooklyn, in the approximate area of the neighborhood where they lived when they got married lo those many years ago.